CarmenSandiego

Last Monday, we had to say good-bye to six singers, and so far I've analyzed two of them -- Jennifer and Quintavious, figuring out why they lost. There are four others whose journey ended in the Top 20, and one of them was Odell. But whereas Jennifer and Quintavious were expected to have their journeys come to an end more or less at this point, the same can't be said for Odell. So why did he fail to make the Top 14? As always, I'll examine the rules that American Idol contestants need to know in order to find out what Odell did right, what he did wrong and why Odell lost. The first rule states that contestants need to show both singing and performing talent. And Odell showed plenty of both, particularly early on since he got a Platinum Ticket and got to skip the first cut in Hollywood. But he might have begun stumbling a little when it was time to perform for America's votes. His song in Hawaii, "Uptown Funk", got an average score of 7.29 on IDF, which put him in tenth overall, but put him behind Quintavious, whom I thought would be in trouble for doing a Carrie Underwood song! I gave that song a 7 and said that it was an enjoyable way to start the show, but a 7 is a score for just a good performance. Fortunately, he was able to move on to the Top 20 and his second song, "The Door", got similar although somewhat higher scores, with me giving it a 7 and saying that it was good but not great. Denton Davidson from Goldderby said that it was a risky song because it was uptempo, but didn't say that he was awful on it. Odell failed to make the Top 10 in voting and had to sing for his survival. So how was his performance of "Wait on You"? Most of those on IDF thought that it was either decent, good or very good, with me giving it an 8. Unfortunately, most people on IDF thought that Roman Collins was better. Still, Odell was better than Jordan Anthony, who got a Wildcard spot, so Odell did a decent job with the first rule, but not quite good enough. The second rule states that song choice is key. I think that Odell had problems here after he got into the Top 24. His first two songs were up-tempo songs that were risky because a lot of singers struggled on uptempo numbers throughout the seasons, and which didn't have enough emotional impact to get voters on his side. His third and final song was a gospel song, which was a smarter choice than uptempo songs, but maybe he should've done an R&B ballad to differentiate himself from Quintavious and Roman more. Therefore, Odell struggled with this rule. The third rule states that contestants should be consistently great or better yet, improve every week. The reason why it's better to improve every week is that if a singer begins at a high level, it's difficult to maintain the momentum and even more difficult to improve. This is what happened to Odell. He began very well but began to stall in Hawaii, having good -- but not great -- performances. Meanwhile, Roman began improving in Hawaii and carried the momentum into the Top 20 round and when having to sing for his survival. Thus Odell struck out on this rule. At least Odell followed the fourth rule, which states that contestants need to have confidence. I didn't see any signs of shaky confidence from him like I did with Blake. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to save him but at least Odell did well with this rule, so I'll move on. Odell also succeeded to some extent with the fifth rule, which states that contestants must have a distinct artistic identity. Odell was a gospel/soul/R&B singer, so he followed that part of the rule well. However, the rule also states that you should have a current or marketable artistic identity, and gospel is definitely outdated, while soul might also be somewhat outdated. R&B isn't as outdated, but it has problems with being as marketable as pop or country. Thus, Odell stumbled with this rule. But Odell had no problems with the sixth rule, which states that contestants must remember that they are a package. Odell had the package of being a father of children and having to live in a hotel room to take care of them, as well as being a Platinum Ticket winner. But as time progressed, his somewhat-outdated artistic identity and poor song choices unraveled his package enough that another gospel/soul/R&B singer could pass him. So Odell sputtered with that rule at the end. Odell didn't have any problem with the seventh rule, which states that contestants must take advice offered to them and follow it. While it didn't save him from elimination, at least he followed the rule, so I'll move on. The final rule states that contestants must gather and sustain a fan base. Odell had a head start in gathering a fan base due to his backstory and his being a Platinum Ticket winner. But the "funnel rule" came into play at the Top 20. There were three gospel/soul/R&B singers in the Top 20: Odell, Quintavious and Roman, and fans of this genre are less numerous than those of country or even pop; therefore, there's more risk of vote-splitting in gospel/soul/R&B. And Odell, Quintavious, and Roman sang similarly enough that the risk of vote-splitting was even greater, and with Odell stalling in his performances while Roman was improving, in retrospect it was pretty clear that vote-splitting would ensure that alll three would have to sing for their survival. Thus Odell screwed up this rule as well. Odell began well, with a Platinum Ticket and a backstory that could gain him a fan base. But because he began so well, he more or less had to remain great, and he couldn't do so. Beginning in Hawaiii, he chose songs which stalled his momentum and prevented him from adding more fans. Meanwhile, Roman began improving in Hawaii, and maintained the momentum in the Top 20 round. And when not only Odell but Roman had to sing for their survival, Roman outperformed Odell. Odell couldn't maintain his lead over the other gospel/R&B/soul singers, and that is why Odell lost.

Yesterday, I did the first of six analyses of contestants who failed to make the Top 15, as I looked at why Jennifer lost. Now it’s time to look at another one who got the boot, and that person is Quintavious. Quite frankly, I thought that Quintavious would go last round, so I’m not surprised that he didn’t get any farther than the Top 20. But why was I expecting him to fall early on? A look at the rules that American Idol contestants should follow will explain what Quintavious did right, what he did wrong, and why Quintavious lost. The first rule states that contestants must show singing and performing talent. Unlike Jennifer, who was the weakest girl vocally, Quintavious was one of the strongest guys in terms of vocals. He also had a distinct performance style based on his being a worship leader at his church. Unfortunately, he didn’t always show his vocal or performance skills to his best advantage. In Hawaii, he sang “Something in the Water”, and IDF mostly praised him, with me giving him a 7.5.; but when he made the Top 20 and sang “Hollow” by Tori Kelly, IDF panned it more. I gave him a 7, which was one of the higher scores, and said that he was better in Hawaii. He failed to make the Top Ten in voting, but he had a chance to win a Wildcard spot with his performance of “Make It Happen” by Mariah Carey. His IDF scores were better than in the Top 20 reveal round, and I gave him a 7.5, saying that it was better than “Hollow”. Still, I thought that Odell and Roman, his main competition, sang their songs better. Thus, I believe that Quintavious struggled somewhat with this rule, mainly when compared to his main competition. The second rule states that song choice is key, and it was a definite problem for Quintavious. He had a tendency to pick songs that could be directly compared to the original singers, such as Carrie Underwood or Mariah, and it didn’t always work out for the best for him. Worse, his final song was described by MJSBIGBLOG as a fun and upbeat song, but not one that you should sing if you’re trying to get a Wildcard spot — or even if you’re celebrating getting into the Top 14! Thus Quintavious definitely stumbled with this rule as well. The third rule states that a contestant should either be consistently great or consistently improve. Unfortunately, I don’t think that Quintavious rose to anything more than being consistently good, which isn’t what this rule states you should be, so he failed this rule as well. At least Quintavious had no problems with the fourth rule, which states that contestants should be confident. It takes confidence to take on Carrie or Mariah songs, after all! Unfortunately, it didn’t save him, but at least he followed the fourth rule. Quintavious also followed the part of the fifth rule which states that contestants should have a distinct artistic identity. Unfortunately for him, his artistic identity was that of a gospel/soul/R&B singer, and might have been too outdated; thus I think that Quintavious fouled up this rule as well. The sixth rule states that contestants must remember that they are a package. But all that we really knew about Quintavious was that he was a worship leader. Meanwhile, we learned that Odell was a father and that he and his children lived in a hotel when he got onto the show! Thus Quintavious struck out on this rule as well. Quintavious had an interesting relationship with the seventh rule, which states that contestants should take any advice offered to him and follow it. In Hawaii, Tori Kelly, the mentor, really wanted him to sing “Hollow”, but he sang “Something in the Water”. But he was actually better on the Carrie song than on “Hollow”, and Tori actually was impressed that he stuck to his guns when choosing his song. Therefore, I don’t believe that he had any problems with the seventh rule, so I’ll move on. The final rule states that a contestant must gather and sustain a fan base. It also notes the dangers of having competition for a certain group of fans. Quintavious was a gospel/soul/R&B singer — and he had competition in that category with two other guys, Odell and Roman! They were all competing for a spot for the male gospel/soul/R&B singer, and only one could get that spot, since gospel wasn’t as current as say, country. And Odell had a better package, while Roman was seen as improving. Thus Quintavious screwed up this rule as well. Quintavious probably should’ve stuck around based on his vocal talent. But American Idol was never a competition to find the best singer. It was looking for a future superstar, and Quintavious had too many problems in being more than just a great singer. He had an artistic identity that was too outdated. He wasn’t as memorable as Odell or even Roman. And he had problems choosing good songs, often tackling songs that would have him compared with the original singers, and not always coming out on top. Quintavious just wasn’t able to be anything more than just a great singer on this show, and that is why Quintavious lost.

I suspect that it’s Emmy who sang it as well.

He probably wasn’t very good.

Last Monday night, the Top 20 became the Top 14 as six contestants were eliminated! That means I have to analyze six contestants to figure out why they lost! Luckily, I’m up to the task, and I’ll begin with Jennifer Jeffries. She was one of four girls in the Bottom 10 in votes and after singing for a Wildcard spot, she was gone. But why did she fail to get a Wildcard spot? As always, I’ll look at the rules that American Idol contestants should follow in order to find out what Jennifer did right, what she did wrong and why Jennifer lost. The first rule states that contestants must show singing and performing talent. And this is where Jennifer first had problems. She was one of the weakest girls in terms of vocal talent. If you don’t believe me, last week IDF gave her an average rating of 5.57, which was only higher than the average scores of Kayko, Blake and K-Blocks and only K-Blocks had a lower average score in her group. Jennifer was able to move on thanks to K-Blocks being worse, Elleigh choosing a terrible song and to all three being in a group that didn’t have the heavy hitters in terms of vocal and performance talent. So how did Jennifer do when she sang after making the Top 20? Perhaps even worse. Most of those on IDF gave her a rating lower than a 5, and only one gave her a score higher than a 6. I gave her a 5.5 and said that she was worse than last week. Denton Davidson from Goldderby also said that this wasn’t his favorite performance, and even the judges were somewhat critical. Unsurprisingly, she failed to get into the Top Ten in votes, so she sang “All I Want”. She did a little better this time on IDF, as she got a couple of 7’s and a 6.5, but I gave her a 5.5 and said that it wasn’t good enough, especially with singers like Jayna and Nya (both of whom got Wildcard spots). Thus Jennifer struck out on the first rule. What about the second rule, which states that song choice is key? I think that Jennifer did better on this rule. While her Top 20 performance wasn’t good, there’s no indication that it was because her song choice was bad. And Denton Davidson thought that she chose a good song to sing for her survival. While it didn’t help her survive the Top 14 cut, at least she succeeded with this rule, I’ll move on. But Jennifer had problems with the third rule, which states that contestants should be consistently great or improve every week. Jennifer was consistently near the back of the pack, which is not what this rule states should be the case, so she screwed up this rule as well. The fourth rule states that contestants must be confident. While nowhere near as bad as Blake, Jennifer did have this problem with “Grave Digger”, as Katy thought Jennifer wasn’t so confident. But Jennifer did recover nicely with “All I Want”, but it was too late. That said, the fourth rule wasn’t a major reason for her elimination, so I’ll move on. The fifth rule states that contestants should know what their artistic identity is, and have a current and marketable one. I think that Jennifer did a better job with this rule than say, Hailey, but she still wasn’t great with this rule. She didn’t have as clear of an artistic identity as most of the other women. That said, the fifth rule didn’t play a major role in Jennifer’s elimination, so I’ll move on. The sixth rule states that contestants must remember that they are a package. Jennifer had some problems with this rule as well, since although she had a very distinct tone of voice, she wasn’t as memorable as most of the girls in the Top 20. Thus, Jennifer struggled with this rule as well. At least Jennifer didn’t have any problems with the seventh rule, which states that contestants must take any advice offered to them and follow it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t nearly enough to save her, at least she followed that rule, so I’ll move on. The final rule states that contestants should gather and sustain a fan base. Jennifer had problems with this rule as well. She didn’t have the vocal chops to compete with most of the other girls, and she wasn’t a country singer, so she couldn’t get votes from that group of voters. And her performances weren’t good enough to help her gain more fans. Thus in the end, Jennifer fouled up this rule as well. Jennifer had too many strikes against her. She had possibly the weakest vocal talent among the women; she wasn’t a country singer so she couldn’t compensate for her vocal weaknesses by getting a dedicated fan base that way, and the only thing she was memorable for was having a distinct tone of voice. Without anything else to help her, a distinct tone of voice could only take her so far, especially when she couldn’t do a decent performance in the Top 20 round. Jennifer did recover in her final performance, but Jayna and Nya were both better than her, which sealed her fate. Jennifer just couldn’t keep up, and that is why Jennifer lost.

While I agree that the producers want a girl winning this season (so do I), I suspect that it’s more likely that changing the lyrics just wasn’t allowed.

Ooh, I love “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)”! Especially since Neil and Sabre from the third season of “So You Think You Can Dance” did an awesome Jazz dance to that song! “Creep”, “Yesterday” and “We’ve Got Tonight” would also work well for Abi. I also like “Drive”, which Angela suggested.

Top 14 Questions 1. Which 12 singers will advance to the Top 12? (120 points) - Abi - Emmy - Jack - Jayna - Julia - Kaibrienne - Kayko - McKenna - Mia - Roman - Triston - Will 2. Which 2 singers will be eliminated from the competition? (50 points) - Jordan - Nya () 3. Which singer will be announced last by Ryan Seacrest to move forward to Top 12? (50 points) - Kaibrienne 4. Which female singer will be announced first by Ryan Seacrest to move forward to Top 12? (50 points) - McKenna 5. Which male singer will be announced first by Ryan Seacrest to move forward to Top 12? (50 points) - Will 6. What will be the ratio of male and female singers in the Top 12? (20 points) - 5 males and 7 females Bonus Question 7. How many wildcards will move forward to Top 12? 4 or 3 or 2? (50 pts) - 2 8. Which number of the performance order that one of the eliminated singer will be assigned to? From 1 (Opening the show) to 14 (Closing the show). (80 pts) - 3

What about Abi?

1. Abi — this is partly because she’s my favorite and because I think she’ll be more consistent than Triston by the end. 2. Triston — he’s making the finale and I wouldn’t mind if he won. I’m just worried that he’ll be too inexperienced to keep up. 3. McKenna — right now, I’m putting her here. The producers love her and probably want her to make the finale. 4. Will — he’s less endearing than Triston and he had vocal issues between his Top 20 song and last night’s one. 5. Emmy — she’s Loretta Lynn’s granddaughter and that’s helping her now. 6. Mia — she’s a country singer and this will help her get far. 7. Jack — I think that he’ll get farther than Kayko. 8. Kaibrienne — she’s too inconsistent but the producers like her. 9. Kayko — I don’t think he can do covers well, and this will hurt him. 10. Julia — I love her but she’s falling behind. 11. Jayna — she’s just not getting the votes. This is as far as she can go. 12. Roman — his style is too dated for him to last long. 13. Nya — let’s face it, minivan hates her. Pity. 14. Jordan — he’s the weakest one and even minivan knows it.

Oh wow! If he can’t take care of his voice, he will be in trouble.

Yeah, Kayko should probably just avoid trying to mess with classics even if he’s not so good (or so comfortable) with covers.

1. Abi Carter — She has the best chance of winning for the girls. 2. McKenna Faith Breinholt — just a step behind Abi in terms of ability. 3. Triston Harper — he’s the best male country singer. 4. Emmy Russell — I can’t disregard her chances. 5. Julia Gagnon — the best of the powerhouse female singers. 6. Jayna Elise — this is more because I like her than my believing that she’ll get this far. 7. Nya — what I said about Jayna is even more true for Nya. I like her but she’s going to be one of the first to be eliminated. 8. Mia Matthews — she could get very far. 9. Will Moseley — he’s consistently middle of the road. 10. Kaibrienne — she’s too inconsistent, sadly. 11. Roman Collins — very good but his style is too dated. 12. Jack Blocker — his weird facial expressions put him this low. 13. Kayko — fine songwriter, mediocre singer. 14. Jordan Anthony — he’s the weakest one.

Top 14 Reveal Template Quintavious - Make It Happen by Mariah Carey - 7.5. It was better than his Top 20 reveal performance, but he still sang a Mariah Carey song. McKenna Faith Breinholt - Tumbleweed by Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl - 9. It was a lovely repeat of her audition song. Jordan Anthony - Attention by Charlie Puth - 7. His best performance yet. Jack Blocker - Feeling Whitney by Post Malone - 7.5. His best performance yet for me. Kennedy Reid - Somethin’ Bad by Miranda Lambert & Carrie Underwood - 6.5. While Carrie wasn’t the only singer in the original, singing a song done by her was a bad idea. Jennifer Jefferies - All I Want by Kodaline - 5.5. She just wasn’t good enough. Ajii - Call Out My Name by The Weeknd - 6.5. He too wasn’t good enough. Mia Matthews - Burning House by Cam - 8. That might’ve been her best performance yet. Kayko - What If? by Himself - 6.5. My favorite of his performances but a little too frantic. Nya - Water by Tyla - 8. A really cool performance. Will Moseley - Gone For Good by Himself - 7.5. For me, this is his best performance. Abi Carter - My Mind by Yebba - 9. Not quite as good as her previous performances but still very good. Odell Bunton Jr. - Wait On You by Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music - 8. While very good, maybe he shouldn’t have gone for gospel songs. KB Richins - Zombies by The Cranberries - 7. Weird song choice but she was much better than in her previous performance. Mackenzie Sol - False Alarms by Lawrence ft. Jon Bellion - 6.5. It wasn’t good enough. Emmy Russell - Skinny by Herself - 8.5. A very good repeat of her audition song. Julia Gagnon - Need A Favor by Jelly Roll - 9. Much better than her Top 20 song. Jayna Elise - All I Wanted by Paramore - 8.5. She saved herself with this song. Triston Harper - ’Til You Can’t by Cody Johnson - 8. He’s better than Will for now. Roman Collins - It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World by James Brown - 8.5. He too saved himself with this song.

That might explain why Odell lost, since he chose to go in a direction that didn’t really work for him.

Not me. It’s just not my cup of tea.

I partially agree — Odell at least should have gotten in as a Wildcard. And while part of me agrees about Quintavious, I never expected him to get to the Top 14, even as a Wildcard. But I disagree about Mackenzie. It was his time.

Yeah. Don’t do “Dancing Queen”, or at least don’t do it the way that Marybeth did it. If you want to do it, make it a fun dance number and pull out all the stops! But preferably don’t do it. If Creep was inducted, I hope she sings it too.

Maybe it’s just as well for Team Waffle. You probably won’t be voting for Kayko.

I’d love to hear Neil Diamond! I’m a fan of his. I actually went to a concert of his when I was younger.

Unfortunately, you were in the minority. I actually thought Quintavious would be going last week with a Carrie Underwood song, so I was surprised when he had a fine performance. He was the least featured of the three male gospel singers, so he would have had to outperform Odell and Roman in order to move on, and he didn’t do so.

Fortunately for her, she was safe so it didn’t matter.

I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if that happened. Disappointed, but not surprised. That said, I think she’s more likely to go around 7-8.

I’m glad that Abi made it. Not surprised, but glad.

Same here. I thought that either Jayna or Nya would move on, not both! But as I said before, I'm not complaining!